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POSTED: Mid-Valley Sunday, April 15, 2001 By Christian Hill Prof Offers Plan to Save Homes Snell House, other buildings could be moved to a new site if time, city allow. CORVALLIS - An OSU professor has an intriguing plan to save the Newman Center properties: Truck the buildings to a vacant lot he co-owns near the former Southern Pacific railyard. George Rohrmann is asking the city to allow him to move the home of the Catholic Campus Ministry and the surrounding five buildings about a mile south to the 1.3-acre lot south of Washington Avenue. He filed his application to city planners late Friday. Village Enterprises LLC, a nonprofit managed by the Archdiocese of Portland, is proposing to demolish the complex to make room for a larger, four-story Newman Commons, with an expanded Newman Center, a cyber cafe and 60 student apartments on the upper floors. The city Planning Commission approved the project but neighbors have appealed the decision to the City Council. Councilors will hold a public hearing on the appeal Monday night. "The city views these two applications as completely separate," said Kelly Schlesener, a planning manager for the city. Schlesener said Rohrmann still must detail how he intends to develop other units so the plan meets the property's zoning requirement of 20 units per acre. The buildings carry some historic significance because Margaret Snell designed at least two of them, the Snell and Bryerly houses. Snell was the first chairwoman of Domestic Science and Hygiene, not only at Oregon State University but also on the entire West Coast. However, the structures never received a formal historical listing. Rohrmann along with David Livingston and Gary Feuerstein, both of Endex Engineering Inc., bought property from Southern Pacific Railroad in 1995. Feuerstein and Livingston proposed a six-story condominium with 60 apartments for the larger, 2-acre, lot on the corner of Ninth Street and Washington Avenue. The project never got off the ground, Feuerstein said, largely because there's no demand for that type of housing. Rohrmann said the smaller lot would make a good home for the Newman Center because it's undeveloped and contains the proper residential zoning. "I would just as soon see them stay there, to tell you the truth," he said. "But that's not going to happen." Feuerstein added the complex harbors a "timeless design" that would meld well with homes in the existing neighborhood as well as the Washington Yard development if it ever goes forward. City planning commissioners will consider Rohrmann's application in June. Village Enterprises has said it won't start construction on Newman Commons until after July 1 if the City Council affirms the commissioners' decision. The appellants still could take their case to the state Land Use Board of Appeals, which could further delay the project. The idea drew praise with those involved with Newman Commons. Jerry Groesz is president of the Newman Foundation, which owns the property the buildings sit on. "If it's all possible within the time frame, that would be great," he said. Through a complicated arrangement, the foundation will sell the property in exchange for larger quarters in Newman Commons. Trinity Court LLC, a for-profit company also managed by the Archdiocese of Portland, would oversee the rental properties in the new building. An official from Village Enterprises couldn't be reached for comment Saturday, but Feuerstein said they're on board. "They've been quite eager to find someone to move the houses so they don't feel the embarrassment to tear down something like that," he said. "They've been very receptive to George's proposal." Tracy Daugherty, who appealed the planning commission's decision with five other neighbors, also was supportive. But he said it does nothing to resolve their concerns over its proposed replacement, notably Newman Common's large scale and the increased traffic it would generate. The plan also calls for the elimination of the open space in the complex and the towering elms planted by Snell herself. "We are not opposed to the development," he said. "We just want it to be in line with the neighborhood." |